Daily Number

27,459

June 28, 2016

After a period of job losses between 2001-2012, New Jersey is on the rebound in biosciences employment. A national report by TEConomy/Bio indicates that the state has gained more than 5,000 jobs in the sector since 2012.

The report ranks New Jersey second in the country for large and specialized employment in the drug industry, following California. The sector employs 27, 459 people, which was 9.4 percent of the nation’s workforce in that field, and it is seeing a high rate of growth since 2012.

New Jersey was also cited as a major player in research, testing, and jobs in medical laboratories, ranking fourth in the country behind California, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania. These facilities employed 25,733 people in New Jersey in 2014. That’s 5.3 percent of the national workforce in that sector, and it too has been seeing growth.

The state was not as highly ranked in terms of distribution of bio-science related products but it still has a sizable chunk of that business and it too is growing.

The glaring weak area is venture-capital funding. The industry organization Bio NJ argues that this is an area in which the state must do more work if it is to continue to flourish as a biosciences leader.